New van..!! (brrrrr...)

I was really disappointed with my Mercedes Vito. The Mercedes quality may have been evident in the quality of the furnishings in the cab, and with the equipment included as standard, but the thing was horrible to drive, developed faults too often (it had only done 65000 miles from new), and drank far too much diesel. Also - the radio was cr*p.

So, a new van now stands on the driveway. I've downsized - no need to carry lots of empty space around - and I have bought a one year old Citroen Berlingo. This one has the 92bhp engine (more powerful than the Vito...) and the 'SX' trim, which gives me two (squashed) passenger seats, with a clever folding arrangement for carrying long loads, and a sliding rear door (but just one - I would have preferred one each side).

In the 800 miles I've driven it so far, it's doing around 52mpg.... now that's more like it! It's also a little cracker to drive! I've got the 200 XMF number plate transferred. Just need to get some SkyeHolidays sign-writing organised now!

Here's the van today...

Sue takes better pics than me...

OK - snow makes everything look amazing.But even more amazing is Sue's eye for a brilliant photograph.
I offer here just a few of the images Sue captured from our front garden today...
(As ever - click on any image to view it larger)

Here we go again...

Only ten months ago, and the scene outside looked very similar. And also much as in January 2010, the whole of the country is getting the snow again. It is coming down really heavily as I post this - so I might add another picture later!

.

HolidaySkye.com

One of the reasons new posts on here have been a bit thin on the ground just recently, is that I am busy with  launching a new online business directory for the Isle of Skye. It is at www.holidayskye.com .

It all started when I spotted that the excellent  domain name 'HolidaySkye.com' was available to purchase, so I bought it, and then thought... what shall I do with this?!! (This was over a year ago....) I then thought that I could use the name for a business directory, listing every business with any slight link with tourism on Skye - not just the obvious B&Bs restaurants and visitor attractions, but also every cafe, pub and shop, every self catering cottage, every mountain or tour guide.... and then every business which depends on the tourist industry for its livelihood. Again, there's the obvious wholesalers, food producers and fishermen, but there's also the taxi companies, petrol stations, plumbers, electricians, estate agents..... Basically, it's EVERY business on Skye.

So, what started as last year's winter project, has stretched into being this winter's project as well. I now have quite a few businesses listed, but it will take a lot more work to find and list them all!

Possibly the best feature of HolidaySkye.com is that it has its very own interactive forum called NewSkyes. The forum is not my creation - it was originally developed by a young Skye resident called Bede. He tried to launch the NewSkyes online a while ago as a stand-alone website. I thought it was a great idea, but not enough people saw it and signed up, so it folded. So now, Bede and I are working together to relaunch NewSkyes as part of HolidaySkye.com

NewSkyes is completely free to use, and is open to the world. It has a Skye focus, but I imagine anyone reading this blog would also have that same focus... It is difficult to get people to sign up and use NewSkyes. It would help us a lot if any readers of this blog would sign up, join the NewSkyes community, and make a few posts

You will find a link to NewSkyes on every page of www.holidayskye.com

Sunrise - 01.11.10

Sorry about the lack of posts recently - we are still welcoming visitors, mostly for short breaks now, sothere's been an increase in doing turn-rounds and washing and ironing and stuff!

Just thought I had to put on this picture of the astonishing sunrise that started this day. Unfortunately, things weather-wise went downhill  pretty quickly, and by sunset, there was a gale lashing rain against the windows!